Marquis of Debris: Family Dollar store must stop passing the buck on trash

JUDGING FROM the flood of emails and calls after last week's installment, the Marquis has plenty of fellow neat-freaks in this wonderful - but dirty - city. Keep 'em comin', folks, 'cause I'm just getting warmed up. Send your trashy tales to trash@phillynews.com.

DOLLAR DUMPING: This week's big offender is the Family Dollar store on Broad Street near Poplar. The store puts its trash on the sidewalk behind the store, which happens to be residential Carlisle Street.

Looks as though it'll take a truckload of Family Dollar Superior Towels to clean up this mess. Instead of putting its trash in a normal bin, the Family Dollar throws it on the sidewalk and has influenced some neighbors to do the same thing. Mattresses, broken glass and wooden poles have been added to the Dollar's collection, creating an aged blend of stinking trash.

"There's been trash dumped all along the building for months," said Alan Trumbo, a store manager. One nearby resident who asked to stay anonymous said he's been complaining about the mess for two years.

"I have called 3-1-1, L&I, the Philadelphia Streets Department, the sanitation police and my councilman, Darrell Clarke, numerous times, and the trash is still there," he said. "One of their Dumpsters even rolled into my car."

Out of frustration, he decided to take the matter into his own hands. "I cleaned the street every day last summer for 90 days with a hose and broom until July, and again it did nothing," he said. "All I want is for the trash to be gone."

The store has even been fined for its trashy behavior, a spokesman for Family Dollar said, adding that the store would start doing a better job of keeping the area clean. We'll hold you to that, sir. Know about more businesses who aren't doing their part to keep a tidy shop? Let me know.

MARQUIS GETS RESULTS: Shortly after I wrote about a nasty dump site at 4900 Grays Ave., an online commenter, DonQ, posted this online: "I just saw a rare sight. Went by the SW Philly dump site a couple hours ago. A Streets Dept. crew was cleaning up the mess. This is the first time I've seen this in more than 10 years. Kudo to the Marquis."

Unfortunately, the dumpers struck back. "One of the supervisors visited the site again after the cleanup, and four new piles have appeared," Streets spokeswoman Keisha McCarty-Skelton said. "This shows the magnitude of problem with illegal dumping." Hmm, maybe one of the city's new dumping cameras can go there?

DOING HER PART: Nance Kerns, who's spent more than 20 years cleaning Pennypack Park in the Northeast, is having cleanup tomorrow at Rhawn Street and Lexington Avenue in the park from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fellow neat-freaks should stop by.

I'M YOUR FRIEND: Check out my website, www.philly.com/MarquisFB, and find me on Facebook. Happy cleaning!